Kubel's 2 HRs lift Twins over Yankees, 8-2

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MINNEAPOLIS(AP) -- The Minnesota Twins were starting to get testy,
growing sick and tired of answering questions about why the New
York Yankees kept beating them and why they couldn't hit the
ball out of Target Field.

With two powerful swings, Jason Kubel emphatically put an end to
both lines of questioning, at least for one night.

Kubel ended Minnesota's long power drought in a big way, belting
two home runs and driving in five runs in the Twins' 8-2 victory
over the Yankees on Thursday night.

Kubel hit a solo homer in the sixth, a three-run shot in the
seventh and had an RBI double for the Twins, who had gone eight
games and 349 plate appearances without a home run before the
lefty broke the skid.

"It just hasn't been consistent," said Kubel, who was hitting
just .217 with three homers entering the game. "Hopefully I can
keep this feeling."

Robinson Cano had two hits and two RBIs and Mark Teixeira had
two hits for the Yankees.

Nick Blackburn (6-1) gave up two runs and nine hits in seven
innings to help Minnesota beat the Yankees for just the second
time in 13 games.

Javier Vazquez (3-5) allowed five runs and eight hits in 5 2-3
innings and took the loss.

The Yankees still took two of three from the first-place team in
the AL Central. They hope to get injured center fielder Curtis
Granderson back for the series opener against Cleveland on
Friday and four of their next five series are against bottom
dwellers in Cleveland, Baltimore and Houston.

"We won two games so I don't want to overlook that we beat a
very good Minnesota Twins team two out of three," Yankees
manager Joe Girardi said. "We didn't win tonight and you'd love
to have won tonight, but we get a chance to go home for a while
and see what happens."

The victory was a welcome sight for Twins fans, who haven't seen
their team beat the Yankees at home since Aug. 13, 2008.
Indoors, outdoors, regular season or playoffs, the Yankees have
owned Minnesota since Ron Gardenhire took over as manager in
2002. Minnesota is 18-54 against the Yankees under Gardenhire
and 725-572 against everyone else.

New York has eliminated Minnesota three times in the postseason
since 2002 and won nine straight, including a sweep in the
divisional playoffs last year, until Kubel's grand slam in the
ninth inning off Mariano Rivera on May 16.

So is Kubel a Yankee killer?

"Uh, I wouldn't go that far," he said with a chuckle.

New York staggered into its first series at Target Field having
lost five of its previous six games, a slump that allowed Tampa
Bay to take a 5 1/2-game lead in the AL East. But Rivera resumed
his excellent form, picking up two saves in about 4 hours on
Wednesday to help the Yankees reassert themselves.

"We're not going to be perfect every time," Cano said. "We're
going to have some ups and downs. We're going to put it together
soon. We've got to get everyone going at the same time and keep
it together as a team and just keep fighting."

The Yankees won the opener, which was suspended by rain, 1-0 and
then edged the Twins 3-2 in the night game on Nick Swisher's
solo homer in the ninth inning.

"I'm glad we're done playing them," Blackburn said.

The Twins broke out in the finale with four doubles in the first
three innings to take a 3-0 lead.

Kubel's first homer was the third-longest hit at Target Field, a
426-footer in the sixth that landed near the parking garage just
beyond the stands in right-center and made it 5-2.

"He made some pitches when he had to, to keep it close," Girardi
said. "Obviously, as I've said, if you don't make pitches to
this team, they can put a thumping on you. That's exactly what
they did."

Kubel's second homer put it out of reach, and the crowd bellowed
"Kuuuuuuuube!" as the slumping slugger took his curtain call and
received a standing ovation. The Twins have 12 homers in 23
games at shiny new Target Field.

"It hasn't been flying here," Kubel said. "But if you pull the
ball, it can get out. So maybe that's the key."

NOTES: Yankees RHP Chad Gaudin, signed on Wednesday, made his
season debut, and was charged with one run, two hits, a walk and
three strikeouts in 1 2-3 innings. ... Gardenhire said 3B Nick
Punto (finger) is expected to return to the lineup on Friday
night against Texas after missing the past four games. ...
Mauer's throwing error in the fourth was just the 10th committed
by the Twins this season.